Are you interested in learning the connection between a company's success and its appreciation of the value of diversity? Well, you have a great opportunity to do just that. The 2006 Diversity Conference is being held May 22- May 24 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, Rochester, New York. This year's theme is: A Case for Diversity, It's Everybody's Business with discussions on how diversity "is all about how effective your people are, how well they work together and how well you are able to tap their talents and potential. Successful organizations create inclusive cultures where people are engaged in their work, know their ideas count and are respected for what they do." If you have the opportunity to attend, please join us for the following two sessions in particular: Executive Coaching - A Value Proposition for Strengthening Diversity Leadership Presented by: Lateyfa Ali, president, OI Partners - E. K. Ward & Associates More and more, business leaders are turning to executive coaching to help them strengthen the skills needed to handle the enormous challenges of maintaining a profitable organization in a fast-changing business climate with more diverse employees and customers and increasing pressures to deliver improved bottom-line results. This session will focus on executive coaching as a development tool to assist leaders at all levels of the organization to gain the self-awareness, skills and capabilities to lead themselves and their business in a diversity competent way. Multi-Dimensional Mentoring - A Key Diversity Connection Presented by: Melissa S. Tucker, SPHR, vice president, OI Partners - E. K. Ward & Associates and Julian Z. Smith, operations manager, ITT Space Systems Division Many diversity and inclusion initiatives have stalled or lost their thunder after recruitment efforts. Not enough attention is focused on retaining and fully engaging diverse employees. Multi-dimensional mentoring is a key diversity connection that enables employers to enhance their retention efforts. This approach directly ties to organizational strategic objectives and individual employee development. Informal mentoring is not making the grade and the formula for success is not one dimensional, it's multi-dimensional. For more information on the 2006 Diversity Conference and to register go to: www.workforcediversitynetwork.com. For more information, contact E. K. Ward & Associates at 716-626-1188 or please click here.

The Diverse Organization: Integrating Differences to Achieve the Same Corporate Culture March 2006 Newsletter Organizational Culture - it presents both challenges and opportunities, especially when considering how to bring two cultures together. Our articles this month are focused on just that: the challenges, and the opportunities, that are presented in developing, changing or merging cultures. Organizations must handle and build culture in many ways. Sometimes executives must create the most appropriate culture given the available workforce. The global organization must handle the challenges of working with diverse local cultures-and diversity today, even in the U.S., means more than race and gender. Another company must create a culture that meets the needs of three, four or even five generations. The rapid pace of acquisitions means constantly developing or refining new cultures. As Dennis Fitzgerald says in his article on mergers and acquisitions, culture is important because it's how things get done in a company, how decisions are made and problems are solved. We hope you'll find this month's newsletter, presenting different perspectives on the issue of culture, intriguing. Anne Mahoney Glose OI Partners (Williamsville, NY) Please click on the links below to read the complete articles. Mergers and Acquisitions: What Happens When Two Cultures Get Together When two cultures get together following a merger or acquisition, conflict is likely to ensue. But it is often a subtle conflict hidden under the surface of discussing goals, integrating systems and combining organizational structures. As one senior executive explained it, "The problem with cultural differences is that they don't lead to disagreements, they lead to misunderstandings. Disagreements are obvious immediately and can be dealt with. But you tend to discover misunderstandings when it is too late--when each party has tackled an action plan in its own way." Challenges facing CEOs THE chief executive officers (CEOs), general managers and company directors voice the same concerns and frustrations time and again. Some of the most experienced CEOs in Malaysia are challenged by the single most important step in leadership, which is in getting the entire company to change their way of working in order to survive in an increasingly competitive environment. The Diverse Organization: Integrating Differences to Achieve the Same Corporate Culture * An inside look at Saint-Gobain, a 40 Billion Euro worldwide ceramics and plastics company * How does a multinational organization bring people together to form a more uniform business culture? The result lies with an ability to have people form cooperative relationships to achieve common business results. People must first understand themselves, their culture and their impact in a world totally different from their parents. Diversity's Importance and Impact in a Global Business World Today's workplace focuses on innovation, creativity and enhanced decision making, problem solving and team synergy. The questions we all need to ask are, "How effective is my business in recognizing the impact that diversity has in these areas?"; "Is my organization holding our leaders accountable for diversity success?" and "Do they truly understand the breadth and depth of diversity and its impact on the business and its future success?" Canada's Most-Admired Corporate Cultures Named A recent study has named the 10 Canadian companies with the "most-admired corporate cultures." The survey also indicates that 82 percent of Canadian executives believe there is a direct correlation between corporate culture and financial performance. The 10 companies are: 1. WestJet Airlines 2. Tim Hortons 3. RBC Financial Group 4. Four Seasons hotels and Resorts 5. Suncor Energy Ltd. Click Here to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this newsletter To learn more about OI Partners, please click here.

E. K. Ward and Associates, Inc.
Anne Mahoney Glose
VP, Principal
4455 Transit Road, Suite 3B
Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 626-1188
Enquiries: aglose@oipartners.net